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Hockey

Canada's Sam Reinhart (L) celebrates his goal against the Czech Republic with teammates Connor McDavid (17), Bo Horvat (R) and Matt Dumba during the first period of their IIHF World Junior Championship ice hockey game in Malmo, Sweden, December 28, 2013. (REUTERS/Alexander Demianchuk)

Usually, it doesn't matter that he is 16 years old, because his talent makes him extraordinary.

Not so against the Czech Republic.

McDavid had an assist, but also took a couple of costly hooking penalties in a 5-4 shootout loss. There were stretches when he did not see the ice.

"I thought at times with Connor his youth showed," coach Brent Sutter said. "It was a tight game and he is an exceptional player, but this is the world junior and it's going to happen with young players. He was not the only one. I thought our youth showed in other areas, too. But we will all be better for it, they will be better players for it."

The Czechs scored their second goal one second after McDavid stepped out of the box in the middle period. In the third, he took a penalty in the Czechs' end just four seconds after Canada went on a power play. And two seconds after that, Vojtech Tomecek scored off a faceoff for the Czechs' third goal.

To top off a miserable night, McDavid failed to score on goalie Marek Langhammer in the shootout.

U.S DUMPS SLOVAKIA

Faced with adversity for the first time in the 2014 world junior championship, the defending champs came through with flying colours.

The red, white and blue clad Americans improved to 2-0 in the tournament with a 6-3 win over surprisingly plucky Slovakia Saturday at the Isstadion in Malmo, Sweden.

After building a 3-0 lead, Slovakia stormed back with a pair of power-play goals in the second period to make things interesting, at least for a few minutes. But the U.S. scored three times in a seven-minute span in the third to close out the Slovaks.

Montreal Canadiens prospect Jacob De La Rose scored late in the second period to propel the host Swedes to a win over Finland at Malmo Arena.

De La Rose's goal came two minutes after Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick Andreas Johnson scored to break a 1-1 tie. Alexander Wennberg, a first-round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets last summer, scored the other two goals for Sweden (2-0).